Asthma
Asthma is a lung disease that causes obstruction of the airways. The body’s own immune system will overreact to external stimuli that it perceives as foreign or dangerous and this causes the asthma “attack”. Allergenic stimuli include: animal dander, pollens, mold, chemicals, etc. Non-Allergenic stimuli include: anxiety, fear, extreme cold or heat, stress, exercise, etc.
Symptoms May Include:
- Coughing, wheezing
- Difficulty breathing
- Tightness in the chest
- A feeling of “starving for air”
- All of the above during an attack
- Attacks lasting minutes to hours
- Note: cardiac asthma shows the
same symptoms but is caused by
heart failure.
